Provincial News

Premier's China Mission Leads to Investment Valued at Over $212 Million

Creating High-Value Telecommunications R&D Jobs in Ontario

Ontario is partnering with Huawei Canada on a major research and development (R&D) expansion project called 5G Ontario. Huawei Canada will invest $212 million to create hundreds of R&D jobs for Ontario's highly skilled workers and further solidify the province as a global hub of the knowledge economy.

Premier Kathleen Wynne was at Huawei's Canadian headquarters in Markham today to announce that Ontario is investing up to $16 million through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund to support Huawei Canada's 5G Ontario R&D expansion plan. 5G Ontario will focus on advanced communications research initiatives including faster Internet speeds and related technologies such as cloud computing, data analytics and mobile security. Huawei will create 250 new R&D jobs in the province as it establishes new research laboratories in Markham and Waterloo and expands its existing research facility in Ottawa.

This agreement builds on Premier Wynne's first trade mission to China in 2014, where it was announced in Beijing that Huawei would invest $210 million to expand in Ontario and create 250 highly skilled R&D jobs. Today's announcement supports those 250 new jobs and retains an additional 250 R&D jobs. In total, Huawei intends to invest up to $303 million in 5G and related research initiatives in Ontario over the next five years, $212 million of which is supported by the province's Jobs and Prosperity Fund investment.

The Huawei expansion project illustrates how Ontario's Going Global Strategy is strengthening the province's information and communications sector. International trade missions and strategic partnerships with business are both critical ways the government is attracting new investment, facilitating innovation and bolstering global exports.

Attracting new investments and helping the province's businesses compete globally are part of the government's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes investing in talent and skills, including helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario's history and investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.

Quick Facts

The Jobs and Prosperity Fund is investing $2.7 billion over 10 years to enhance productivity, bolster innovation and grow Ontario’s exports — it will help create and retain more than 16,000 jobs and attract more than $1 billion in investments.

The Premier’s trade missions to China in November 2015 and to India earlier this year are expected to create approximately 1,850 jobs in Ontario through more than 100 agreements and memoranda of understanding. The total estimated value of the agreements is approximately $2.8 billion.

Premier Wynne has led two trade missions to China. Her mission in 2014 attracted nearly $1 billion in new investments and her trip in November 2015 generated $2.5 billion in agreements.

China-based Huawei Technologies is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world.

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